LA BASTIDA

THE GREATEST ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE WESTERN WORLD

II milenio b.c.e. Early Bronze Age. Totana - Murcia - Spain

LA BASTIDA

THE GREATEST ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE WESTERN WORLD

The Troy of Western Europe

There are numerous archeological sites in the world of great value whether by its aesthetical beauty, size, location, degree of conservation, scientific importance, or by its capability to change the course of history since they were discovered. The later is the case of La Bastida, currently considered as the mother of all western archeological sites. Recent excavations confirm that is the oldest city of the western world and the first European capital with political and economic inequalities that used violence to maintain a centralized political power. In other words, the first society presenting the social stratification model followed for more than 40 centuries. Popularly known as the Troy of Western Europe, La Bastida amazes (puzzles) the archeologists because it meant breaking with the world known at the beginning of the Bronze Age. La Bastida emerges from its burying centuries as a powerful city protected by an imposing (impressive) wall. It was the capital of a domain that stretched through the Guadalentn River Valley and was inhabited between 2200 and 1550 b.c.e. Prior to the latest excavation works, we had to look at the East to find something similar, but from what it is revealed now we can dare to affirm that the cradle of the Western civilization, the origin of its own matrix, is located within its own boundaries. The excavations have unveiled one of the only three existing burial sites of two men, the largest dagger of the El Argar culture, the first and biggest reservoir of the European prehistoric times (over 300,000 liters of water capacity), an unparalleled complex urban development plan in Europe, an extensive graveyard with single and double tombs, a vast asset on furnishing findings and, the most impressive, a defense wall with a surprising complexity and without any precedent in the western world. The monumental fortification system discovered in April 2012 has a design and specific features that unveil the intervention of a military group that may have had links with the Eastern Mediterranean. Similar military constructions have been found in Palestine, Israel and Jordan in addition to the city of Troy. Circa 2200 b.c.e., the decline hung over the ancient Egyptian empire. The same occurred to the Mesopotamia which had gone through a golden age since the foundation of the Akkadian empire. But thousands of kilometers away, in the South East of the Iberian Peninsula, a new society bloomed perched up on a hill between the Lbor watercourse and the Salado ravine. Previously there were other complex settlements, but not as monumental or with such specialization in military architecture. The previous model of coexistence based on the principle that all individuals collaborate to the common good and to the community prosperity under equal conditions disappears. That philosophy of mutual cooperation breaks down and is replaced by a system of inequalities in which the ruling class holds privileges throughout (by using) force, violence and exploitation.

LA BASTIDA

THE GREATEST ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE WESTERN WORLD

A unique defense wall in Europe

It is not about one more fortified enclosure like the many known until then in this part of the continent. In the Cabezo del Plomo, for instance, its inhabitants formed a domestic society that hid behind some walls. But La Bastida is something very different. It is about a spectacular fortification with a strong wall endowed with square and solid towers. Its builders proved mastery on the art of defending and attacking strongholds. The archeologists have found many novelties for the Early Bronze Age such as a bententrance gateway (designed to make the enemy entry difficult in case of an invasion) or a camouflaged secondary door in the

defense wall to attack the invaders by surprise. This postern gate is absolutely unique and unprecedented in Europe. The burial offerings found are telltale signs (indicadores clave) of the violent society that inhabited this Argaric capital. Many objects that could cause harm, such as knifes or punches were found in other archeological sites belonging to the same historical period. But La Bastida is the place where the first weapons of prehistoric times like halberds and swords were specifically designed and manufactured to kill.

bodies of two warriors. The DNA tests could not reveal if the two men were brothers or held any family tie. The experts do not rule out the possibility of a homosexual relationship. They base this hypothesis in the fact that a cenotaph (an empty tomb) was found very close to the clay urn that contained the bodies of the two men, which may symbolize a sterile relationship.

An unknown ending
Tomb number 18 is just one of La Bastida mysteries. There are many more. It is not clear at all how this great city disappeared. About a thousand people lived in its four hectares. The hill was terraced to build houses that were separated by very narrow alleys. In that society stratified in classes, women played an important role in the transfer of rights and in the towns management. It was a matrilocal community in which women were born and raised in the city by their female relatives while men were the ones who left the family after getting married. This social scheme did not undergo

The enigma of tomb number 18

To this date, 83 burial sites have been excavated underneath several houses. What was found inside the cists or clay urns have provided valuable information. Most are individual burial sites. Inside those that are double, archeologists generally found two adults of different sex, an adult and a child, or two children. The most intriguing tomb is the one marked with number 18. It is an only case as it contains the

LA BASTIDA

THE GREATEST ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE WESTERN WORLD

many changes during the six centuries La Bastida existed. Research suggests that it was a rigid, centralized, and highly standardized society. The few different models and sizes of pottery found during excavations show no variation throughout six hundred years. The strict control exercised by domineering leaders reached that extreme. What that privileged powerful caste could not control was the decline and the end of La Bastida. Circa 1600 b.c.e. the city was abandoned. So far, scientists did not find traces of houses destroyed by fire, implying a violent ending caused by a turbulent action such an invasion. Its inhabitants fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs; utensils, belongings and easy to carry objects. The depopulation occurred in a short period of time. Some point out that La Bastida grew so much to the point of depleting the sparse surrounding natural resources. That environmental crisis together with a social upheaval could cause the ultimate collapse. The entire territorial and organization system plummeted. People

scattered going back to the previous model of subsistence. La Bastida never flourished again. Up until now, when its extraordinary legacy begins to emerge. Many enigmas and unanswered questions that scientists hope to resolve still hang over La Bastida.

Writing is the only missing puzzle piece to have La Bastida entering the club of great civilizations, and that might be the next revelation this archeological site bring to us.

LA BASTIDA

THE GREATEST ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE WESTERN WORLD

Images gallery

LA BASTIDA

THE GREATEST ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE WESTERN WORLD

Images gallery

LA BASTIDA

THE GREATEST ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE WESTERN WORLD

Images gallery

Contact: Impulsa seeks to support La Bastida project by developing a private initiative to contribute to the enhancement, development and promotion of this amazing historic and cultural patrimony of the Murcia Region.
Daniel Rolleri
Project Director rolleri.daniel@gmail.com +34 698 555 081

Juan Goca

Director of Communications juan@gocalia.com +34 968 344 960

This document is based on testimonies and writings by Rafael Mic, professor of the Prehistory Department at the Universidad Autonmica de Barcelona and co-director of La Bastida project, as well as on excerpts from the article The mystery of Tomb 18 by journalist Miguel Rubio.
More information:

la-bastida.com